Elastic fabric



T. F. KENDRICK ELASTIC FABRIC Dec. 9, T924 Filed April 23, 1925 L Patented Dec. 9, 1924.

Cil

PATENT OFFICE.

UNITED- 'sTAIEs THOMAS FRANK .xEN'DaIcIL or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

Appucauon'med 'April 2a,

provements in Elastic Fabrics, of which the following is-aspecification. l i

Thisv invention relates to improvementsI in elastic f-abrics of the character employed in the manufacture 'of surgical appliances and wearing apparel and comprising covered strips of rubber forming elastic strands arranged side by side and held in place by co-openating vbinding threads, the elastic strands being enclosed in pockets formed between adjacent binding threads in a manner to permit the' fabrics to be stretched' lon '-tudinally of the elastic strands.

en pieces of fabrics of this character are sewed to ether or sewed tol pieces of other materi s it frequently happens that the needle used to perform the sewing operation penetrates many of the rubber strips usually square in cro section, of the e astio strands, sometimes leaving the threads of the stitches extending through-- bining y j ments the rubber strips and sometimes merely leaving 'holes or broken edge portions in the rubber strips; and the frequent stretching of the elastic fabric 'of the surgical apipliance or article of wearing apparelcontaining the elastic strips thus impaired causes the strips to break and causes loose ends of the strips or elastic strands to protr'ude from within the main body of the fabric, thereby not only impairing the efficiency of t e appliance or article, but rendering it rough and unsightly.

The object of the invention is to overcome the aforesaid objection by the provision of afnovel elastic strand and by comthe elastic strand with the other ele- 'of Athe fabric to form a product in which the impairment of the rubber strips vof theY fabric by the sewing needle will be greatly reduced or entirely eliminated.

With the foregoing object in view, the invention consists of the novel Afabric and the novel elements thereof lherein-after described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrat; ing the invention,`

,Figure 1 is a front view ofa piece of elastic fabric embodying my invention.

' threads 5.

FABRIC.

192s. serial No. 633,923.

Figure 2 is a section through the fabric, Online 2-2 of Figrl. f

Figure 3 is Ia side view of one of the elastic strands, enlarged of Ithe strip of rubber forming core of the strand exposed by the` :removal of a part of its covering.

Fic-ure 4 is a transverse section through the dlastic strand, on line L4-4 of Fig. 3.

Figure 5 is a side view of the 'rubber strip of one of the elastic strands, enlarged, in the normal condition thereof before the covering is applied thereto. y

Figure 6 is an end'v view of therubber strip shown in Fig. 5.

Figure 7 is a side view elastic strands, showing a modification of the covering for the core thereof.

Referring to the drawings, the elastic fabric comprises elastic strands 3, Varranged side by side, and co-operating bindlng within the fabric Iand heldin place in their side by side 1relationshi binding threads 5 whic las herein illustrated, are knitted together, forming a network extending throughout the fabric and showing a' portion therein by the of ,one of the The elastic strands are bound enclosing the elastic strands in pockets formed by. and between the loops .of adjacent binding threads 5.

Thevl construction of the fabric, as thus far described, is well known in thisl art. The elastic strands 3 are formed by one continuous strand which extends lback and forth, from side to side or from end to end ofv the fabric and they yare interwoven with the bindingl thread-s 5 to form suitable selvages at the edges of the `fabric, as is well known in this art.

, Eachl elastic strand 3 comprises a rubber core4 6 enclosed in one or two coverings 7 and 9. j

The core. 6, in its normal condition, is a flat strip of rubber, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. When the coverings 7 and 9 are applied to the core 6 it is distorted from its normal condition by being folded upon it .self or buckled or compressed causing the rubber strip or core 6. The covering 7 is wrapped directly'upon thecore 6 and the covering 9 is wrapped uponthe covering? and the core 6 therein, the finished strand;

9 prevent the complete return of the rubber strip 6 to its normal length, leavingthc rubber strip. confined within the coverings 7 and 9 in the condition previously described.

The'rubber strip 6 is stretched tofabout four times its normal length before being' covered, `and', after being covered while` it is thus stretched, the covering permits i-t lto return to about three times its normal length. These proportions are varied some-- what to suit diferent requirements. The coverings 7 and 9 are applied to the rubber strip 6 by the same machinery and in precisely the same manner that they have been heretofore applied to strips ofirubber, which are round orl square-vin cross section, in the manufal/.cture of elastic strands.

Insteadxof: .covering the, rubber strip 6 withv wrappings '1 of threads, as shown in Figs. 3 and4, the strip may be covered with braidas shown in Fig. 7 ;that is to say, each covering therefor may comprise two sets of threads wrapped spirally `around the rubber strip in'opposite directions and interwoven to form braid.

I have discovered that when pieces of y fabrics, made lin accordance with mylinvention, as hereinbefore described, are sewed together .or to pieces of other fabrics in the manufacture of surgical appliances or artior articles :are in service, the breakage of the elastic' strands'thereof in the regions of the lines of stitches| uniting the parts of the appliances or articles will be much less than in prior constructions or entirely eliminated.

1 claim as my invent/ion:-

1. Anelastic fabric comprising normally.

fiat strips of rubber arranged side 'by side and cooperating threads retaining the strips of rubber within" the'fabric distorted from ltheir normally Hat condition.

2. An elastic fabric comprising elastic strands arranged side by side, each' strand being formed of a flat strip of rubber trans'l versely doubled upon itself and having covering threads lsurrounding it', and co-operating binding threads retaining the elastic strands in pockets formed by and between adjacent binding threads.

3. An elastic fabric comprising elastic strands arranged side by side, each strand being formed of a fiat strip of rubber doubledl upon itself and having a covering of threads wrapped spirally around the saine, and co-operating binding threads retainin theelastic strands in pockets formed byan between adjacent binding threads.

4. Avn elastic fabric comprising elastic strands arranged side by side@ each strand being formed of a'fiat strip of rubber transversely doubled upon itself and having covering threads surrounding' it, and knitted binding threads enclosing the elastic strands inpockets andvholding them in place. v

5. An elastic fabric comprising elastic strands arranged side by side, each strand being-formed of'a flat strip of rubber doubled upon itself and having a covering of threads wrapped spirally around the same, and knitted binding threads enclosing the elastic strands in pockets and holding the-mA in place. n

6. An elastic fabric strand comprising a fiat strip of rubber doubled upon itself and having covering threads surrounding it.

7. An elastic fabric strand comprising a `verse directions.

In testlmony whereof Iaiix my signature hereto.

'rHoMAs FRANK KENDRIGK.

vflat strip of rubber doubled upon itself and i having covering threadsfwrapped spirally' cles of wearing apparel, and suchappliances e 

